threat to europe today and next week

Submitted by myth (Germany), Jan 24, 2012 at 06:39

Stanley, special police forces respond to terrorist attacks inside and outside of Germany. That is the job of the GSG9 who has some reputation within the middle-east terrorist community. Anything on the scale of the Madrid bombings would prompt a very serious nationwide response from law enforcement, let alone the population's anger. The legal basis for such a response has always been grounded in german law.

The threat next week is certainly long range missiles coming from Iran reaching european targets. A situation similar to the Hisbollah firing missiles across the fence into Israel. However the threat to Europe is not discussed in the media. The historical standard has been pushed to new limits by the broadcasting of the US invasion in Iraq. That firepower and swiftness exceeds a WW2 scenario. Even tomorrow's threats appear small compared to televised US firepower. Maybe that accounts for some of the indifference in Europe.

Here in Germany there is an emotional side to this. Politicians avoid the word "war" associated with german armed forces like the plague. They talk about the "Afghanistan mission" or use some other constructs. (There is also no casualty-counting.) Should ever any threat become immediate, the chancellor would use the word "war". That is a word not to be softened by adjectives like "defensive","preemptive" , "necessary" and the like. There is some invisble but sharp line here. You in the US need not worry.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".